More Than Just a Box of Chocolates
by thecoleaderofgroupb
Summary: AU The Gladers attend an international college preparatory school. After Thomas sits through a lesson on cultural practices for Valentine's Day, he is motivated to gather his courage and make a unique box of chocolates for his crush. Minho was used to seeing tons of gifts in his locker and on his desk every Valentine's Day but he felt drawn to one box in particular.


"Shuck it!" Chuck cursed as he fumbled with the knot on his tie.

Thomas leaned over and began fixing Chuck's tie to look presentable. His slid the knot higher and asked, "How's that feel?"

"Fine," Chuck said.

Thomas stepped back and slid his school blazer over his shoulders. Chuck threw his blazer on and grabbed his messenger bag, slinging it over one shoulder haphazardly. Thomas chuckled as he shook his head at his younger brother and Chuck made a face at him.

"Quit laughing!" Chuck whined as they headed for the bus. "Ya know you're stuck wearing the same shucking thing I am."

"It's not that," Thomas sighed as he grabbed breakfast bars for both of them before closing the door and locking it behind them. "I'm laughing because you're my brother and I wouldn't trade you in a heartbeat."

Chuck stopped short of the bus doors and allowed a small smile to cross his face. As Thomas came up behind him, Chuck hid his smile and turned to his older brother, rolling his eyes at him. He nudged Thomas before getting on the bus. "You're starting to sound like Mom with this sentimental klunk."

* * *

"Good morning students," Dr. Paige said as she stood in front of the class. "I have the results from your quiz last week on Turkish traditions and dress, which I'll be passing out to you shortly. Please keep in mind that while this is a ten point quiz, this material may appear on the midterm coming up in a few weeks. I would highly recommend that you review the chapters and your class notes now so you're not cramming in a few weeks the night before." She began passing back the quizzes and Thomas fiddled with his pen as he waited for his to come back. The paper landed face down on his desk and he let out a breath he had been holding in as he flipped it over.

_Not bad_, he thought as he reviewed his answers. So he got one wrong but hey, it was better than he thought. This was a tricky section and he kind of forgot about the quiz until the night before. He spotted his best friend Teresa making a face as she looked at her results and Brenda was grinning widely as she looked at hers.

Once all of the quizzes had been passed back, Dr. Paige returned to the front and began writing their new lesson on the board. Thomas craned his neck to see what she was writing and raised a brow when he saw "Valentine's Day" at the top of the board. These two words were enough to spark chatter throughout the classroom, which quickly ended when Dr. Paige capped the whiteboard marker and turned to face the class.

"Now, contrary to the popular belief that this holiday is simply a "Hallmark holiday", there was a real Saint Valentine that existed according to findings dating back to the late 400s in Roman history," Dr. Paige began as she addressed the class. She turned back to the whiteboard and began writing down the historical timeline for the evolution of the holiday and the class scrambled to write everything down, in case she decided to quiz them on Friday about the information. Eventually Dr. Paige began splitting out the traditions and habits exhibited in various countries that celebrated the holiday and Thomas highlighted ones that treated the holiday with different connotations rather than love. Knowing Dr. Paige, one of them was bound to end up on a quiz.

"Japan and Korea have a similar tradition of women giving chocolate to men on Valentine's Day," Dr. Paige said as she wrote the information on the board. "Originally it was steeped in giving chocolate to someone that was loved or desired. Today, it is common for people to give out more expensive or unique chocolates to the ones they love and cheaper chocolates are given to friends and co-workers. It is typical for men to reciprocate the kind gesture by giving the women a gift on March 14, which is called White Day."

Thomas perked up at this comment and he licked his lips before raising his hand. He cleared his throat to get Dr. Paige's attention.

Dr. Paige took a break from writing on the board and turned around. "Yes Thomas?"

"Doctor would you please clarify what you mean by 'unique' for the chocolates given to loved ones?" he said.

"An excellent question Thomas," Dr. Paige said as she stepped away from the whiteboard. "It's not uncommon for women to make their own chocolates in various shapes or flavor combinations that they know will appeal to their loved ones. In some cases, many have simply gone to specialty chocolate shops and requested customized details for the chocolates including initials, decorations…Does that answer your question?"

"Yes, thank you," Thomas said as he scribbled a note and highlighted it.

"Good," Dr. Paige said as she returned to the board. "I will also note that with March 14th, the differences between Japanese customs and Korean customs is that it is traditional for men in Korea to give the women hard candy rather than chocolate. The Japanese gifts range from candy to other gifts, provided that the worth of the gift to the woman is at least twice of the one she gifted the man." Dr. Paige then began to discuss traditions in India and Thomas smiled as he continued to scribble the notes down.

* * *

"You're going to what?" Teresa asked when they sat down at their regular table for lunch. Her bright blue eyes widened as she stared at Thomas, her straw in one hand and the wrapper in the other.

Brenda rolled her eyes and glanced sideways at Teresa. "You heard him," Brenda said before looking back at Thomas. "He wants to make chocolates for his dream boat, captain of the Cross Country team, Minho Park."

"Why do I have the feeling that you totally decided to do that after hearing Dr. Paige's lesson?" Teresa sighed as she crumpled her straw wrapper into a ball on her tray. She picked up her chopsticks and ate a piece of sushi from her plate.

Thomas threw his hands up in defeat. "What? You and Brenda keep saying that I need to say something to him," he protested.

"True," Brenda agreed as she cut up one of her chicken strips. "You've been drooling over that guy since your first year here. He's gonna graduate in a couple months – might as well do it sooner rather than later."

Teresa shook her head before taking a sip of her sparkling limeade. She glanced around the cafeteria and nodded over at a blonde at another table. "I thought Minho was seeing Ben?"

"Ben?!" Brenda asked with a look of disbelief. "Oh shuck no! That was over before you two got here. Minho was with Newt for a while until Alby wooed Newt back. No, he's been single for a while. Couple casual dates but nothing steady yet from what I've seen."

Teresa looked back at Thomas and shot him a concerned look. "Thomas, you do realize that there may be other people who have the same idea that you do. Minho's got a lot of people who like him and well, after what Dr. Paige just taught us, you should be prepared in case yours gets overlooked."

"I'm all for the idea Tom, but do ya know how to make chocolate?" Brenda as she wiped her mouth with her napkin. "No offense, but you just never struck me as a sweets sort of guy."

"He made me some coffee chocolate truffles for my birthday about two years ago," Teresa spoke up as she wiped a drip of soy sauce from her lips. "They were really good by the way."

"Thanks," Thomas said as he picked up a handful of chips. _I'll probably make a few different types to be safe though._

* * *

"Hey Tommy! Long time no see!" Newt said late Wednesday afternoon during after school Study Hall. He put his bag down on an empty chair and began pulling out his homework assignments that were due tomorrow.

Thomas looked up from reading a book he pulled from the library on chocolate types and how to fill them with flavors and waved at Newt. Newt raised a brow as he put down his folder with his Physics homework and he walked over to see what Thomas was reading.

"A chocolate book?" Newt asked as he read a few sentences from the page Thomas was on. "Please don't tell me that Home Ec is making us do that – I barely passed the baking lesson of that bloody class."

Thomas closed the book and shook his head no. He put it down on the table in front of him and explained that he was reading it for leisure. Newt relaxed his shoulders and walked back to his seat, opening his Physics folder and book to the section on Velocity.

"Ya already done with homework? That's a first," Newt whispered when the librarian walked by.

"Yeah for the whole week," Thomas replied as he opened the book again.

Newt's eyes widened and he frowned as he gave Thomas a funny look. Thomas sighed before closing the book again and he pushed the book to the side. He was about to answer Newt when the librarian's assistant came by and told them if they wanted to talk, they could take it outside. Thomas shot the assistant an apologetic look and Newt shrugged while trying to look apologetic. The assistant rolled his eyes as he pushed the cart of books along and began to re-shelve the ones that had just been returned.

Newt tore a page out of his notebook and scribbled a note to Thomas so they could chat without getting caught.

_Why are ya already done for the week, ya bugging shank? _

_I just felt like getting it out of the way, that's all._

_Yeah like I'm gonna bloody buy that klunk. Come on, there's more to this, I know it._

_I'm working on a side project after school, that's all._

_Is it Valentine's Day related?_

_Maybe. Why do you care?_

_It's for Minho, isn't it?_

Thomas bit his lip when he read Newt's last message and he nodded before looking around the library. Newt shook his head and slid the paper back towards him to write a new message.

_Hate to break it to ya shank, but Min usually gets somewhere around 20-30 gifts on V-day. Some of them get tossed out or given away to other shanks cause he doesn't want to lead any shanks on. For now, he's pretty content being by himself._

Thomas took the paper back and skimmed it before making a face.

_I really don't stand a chance, do I?_

Newt shot him a sympathetic look before accepting the paper back and writing one final response.

_I never said ya didn't. I'm just saying that it's not gonna be easy cause everyone else gets the same bloody idea. Ya just need to find a way to make yours stand out. By the way, don't give him anything with strawberry, matcha, or red bean – he hates all three of those flavors. For some reason, lots of shanks think that he likes those flavors, given they are popular Asian flavors but he doesn't._

Thomas read Newt's response and smiled before mouthing, "Thanks Newt."

* * *

"It smells like chocolate in here!" Chuck declared when he came home on Thursday. He fished out the DVDs he borrowed from his friends in the Film Appreciation and History Club and hollered that he needed to watch these for the next meeting.

"Living room's all yours," Thomas called back from the kitchen.

Chuck frowned when he heard that response. Normally Chuck would have to wait until Thomas's favorite show was over at 7 PM before he could watch any TV or films. Did he seriously just tell him that he had free reign of the TV tonight? He wandered closer to the kitchen and yelled, "What the shuck are you doing?"

"Language Charles!" their mom called from the office.

Chuck ducked his head and mumbled an apology to his mom before hanging his bag on a hook in the hallway. He kicked his shoes off and left them lined up under his bag before heading to the kitchen to see what was going on. His eyes widened as he watched Thomas check something in a pot on the stove with a small thermometer and his eyes wandered to the molds sitting on the table filled with chocolates that were piped into the trays.

"Whoa, are you trying to put Hershey's outta business?" he asked as he wandered around the kitchen. He saw bags of sugar, cans of cocoa powder, extracts, salts, and various fruits that had been mashed to a jelly or jam consistency.

Thomas pulled the thermometer out of the pot and turned the heat off, moving the small pot to a tray nearby. He began pouring the contents of the pot onto a waxed baking tray and Chuck stood on tiptoe to see it was caramel. Thomas began spreading the caramel so it was even on the tray before putting the pot into the sink to soak. He walked over to the table to check on the status of the chocolates he had sitting in the molds and he moved a few of them to the refrigerator to harden.

"Sorry Chuck gotta focus on all of these," Thomas said as he passed his younger brother

Chuck blinked and shook his head at Thomas before grabbing an apple and leaving. "Well whoever it is, they better like chocolate or you're in trouble!"

* * *

"Hey Thomas!" Brenda greeted him the next morning. Her eyes widened as she stared at the medium sized circular box he was carrying and her mouth dropped as she pointed to it.

"All of that is for Minho?" she asked as she met Thomas's eyes. "Whoa, how long did that take – all night?"

"Kinda," Thomas said as he rubbed his eyes. "I stopped at the grocery store right after classes and started working on the chocolates right away. Some of them took a while to set and in between the different types, I was racking my brain for how I wanted to package them. Plus then I remembered I had a test the next day for Chem so I had to cram for that."

"Sheesh," Brenda murmured as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, hopefully he likes them after all the trouble you went through."

"Yeah, that's the hope," Thomas mumbled as they hurried to their first class of the day. Thomas glanced around the classroom for Minho, seeing that he hadn't arrived yet. He approached Minho's desk and tried to hide his disappointment when he saw the huge pile of gifts on his desk. Small, medium, large – shuck Newt wasn't joking, Minho did get a lot. Thomas licked his lips and placed his box on Minho's chair, the only area that was free near the desk. He walked quickly back to his own desk and started pulling out his assignments for class to turn in.

Brenda fished out a small box from her bag and handed it over to Thomas. "Before I forget, here's a little something from me – Happy Valentine's Day."

Thomas smiled and fished out a bag filled with chocolates for Brenda. "There was plenty leftover so hope you like them."

Brenda hoisted the bag higher and narrowed her eyes to get a better look at them. "You made these?!"

"Uh yeah," Thomas replied. "Lost a lot of sleep over them."

Brenda stared back with wide eyes as she walked back to her desk and snuck one when the teacher wasn't looking. She gave Thomas a thumbs-up as she tried to eat it without drawing too much attention to herself. Teresa took her seat next to Thomas and exchanged gifts with him before pulling out her homework and passing it to the front for the teacher to collect.

Thomas looked up briefly from writing the lesson title on his page and saw that Minho was strolling into class just before the bell rang. The teacher raised an eyebrow at him and Minho shrugged, saying that he was on time. He picked up some of the presents and moved them to the floor by his feet. Thomas snapped his head to the front as the teacher began talking about Algebra equations. Minho raised a brow as he picked up the one that was sitting on his chair before taking his seat. He put it on top of the desk and studied it curiously.

"Mr. Park would you like to solve for x on this problem?" the teacher asked, snapping him back to reality.

Minho straightened up and left the box on his desk as he walked up to the board to solve the equation. He stared at the problem for a few seconds before taking the whiteboard marker from the teacher. He yanked the cap off with his teeth before showing how to solve for x. Thomas's eyes darted back and forth as he watched Minho solve the problem without hesitation.

_Smart, hot, nice-looking hair…_Thomas thought as Minho capped the marker and handed it back to the teacher with a faint smile that bordered on his trademark cocky grin.

"Thank you Mr. Park," the teacher said as Minho walked back to his seat. "In the future, please enjoy your gifts outside of class."

"Sorry," Minho said as he slid into his seat. He took one last look at the round box on his desk before putting it into his backpack and focusing on the lesson.

* * *

"Sheesh Shank! You made out like a bandit this year!" Zart hooted as Minho dumped the tall stack of presents onto the table during lunch. Minho sighed as he caught his breath and sat down next to Winston.

"You open any of them yet?" Gally asked as he picked one up and studied it.

Minho shook his head no and told them that they could open them. "Take whatever you want," Minho said as he opened his backpack and pulled out his lunch.

His friends opened the boxes and bags, finding mostly running gear like tube socks, water bottles, energy bars and gels. A few people gave candy and one person gave him a pair of boxers with hearts all over them. Zart laughed when he pulled out the boxers from the bag they came in and Winston let out a whistle.

"Slim it shuckfaces," Minho groaned as he finished his sandwich. He wiped his mouth and took a long sip from his water bottle before reaching back into his backpack to take another look at the round box he had found on his chair this morning in Math.

It wasn't red, pink, or white like the other boxes. Instead, this box was green with a black ribbon tied around it. He untied the ribbon and pulled off the lid to reveal a Maze within the bottom of the box. He peered into the Maze paths and saw that they were all filled with various chocolates.

"Whoa," Winston murmured as he put down the sweatband in his hand. "Who gave you that?"

"I think the better question is, is this actually a shank you might be interested in?" Zart asked as he watched Minho.

Minho shrugged as he picked up the lid from the table and flipped it over to find a tag on the underside of the lid that simply said 'To Minho From Thomas Murphy'.

"Thomas Murphy?" Winston read when he saw the lid. "I think the shank hangs with Brenda sometimes."

"What are we talking about?" Gally asked as he put down the candy he opened. "Who's that from?"

"A shank named Thomas Murphy," Minho murmured. "Shank's in my Math class."

"Ya think he bought those chocolates?" Zart asked as he picked one up.

Minho scowled as he pried the piece out of Zart's hand. "I'll try it first shank," he said before popping it into his mouth. He licked the cocoa powder off his fingers and he pressed his tongue against the round chocolate in his mouth. At first he tasted chocolate and cocoa powder until the chocolate shell began melt in his mouth. _Coffee?_ He thought as the gooey center burst in his mouth. _Whoa that's rich – definitely real coffee!_

"Must be good if you're not talking shuckface," Gally said as he watched Minho's face.

Minho nodded as he tried to make this chocolate last as long as he could in his mouth.

Winston studied another chocolate that was similar to the one Minho was eating. "I think the shank made these – they aren't all perfect and klunk," he said as he looked closely.

Gally stood up and leaned across the table. "So? Ya gonna share any shuckface or are they so amazing that you're not?"

Minho licked his lips once he finished the chocolate before reaching for another one. "Sorry shanks but I'm not sharing these."

* * *

"Ugh mine are almost gone!" Brenda moaned when she ran into Thomas at the end of the day.

Thomas shook his head at her and nudged her arm. "You didn't have to eat them in one sitting."

Brenda ran a hand through her hair before wrapping her fingers around her messenger bag strap. "But they're addicting! You eat one, and then you think, 'Okay I'll just have one more'. Then after the second one, you think, 'Oh well, three's a good number right?' Before you know it, boom! All gone."

"I can share some of mine Bren," Teresa offered as she joined them. She turned to Thomas and told him to have a great weekend before heading off for her bus.

Brenda grabbed Thomas in a bear hug and thanked him for giving her a chocolate addiction before pulling out her car keys and leaving for the student lot.

Thomas looked around for Chuck as he headed in the general direction of their bus. He was a few feet away from the bus when he saw someone dash past him, skid to a stop, and walk back towards him. _Shank's probably looking for someone else_, Thomas thought as he continued to look for Chuck. Then he felt a firm tap on his shoulder and he turned to see it was Minho standing behind him.

"Hey Thomas," Minho said as Thomas turned to face him. He held up the box and said, "Got your chocolates, which taste shucking amazing. You make 'em or something?"

"Hey! Um yeah, yeah I did," Thomas said as he wrapped his fingers around his messenger bag strap. "Glad you liked them."

"So uh, you seeing anyone?" Minho asked as he shifted his backpack to the other shoulder.

Thomas could hear his heartbeat pick up at that question and he shook his head no. _Don't be stupid shank, there's no way he could possibly–_

Minho grabbed ahold of Thomas's blazer lapels to pull him closer and oh shuck! Thomas felt a pair of warm pink lips press against his and his eyes widened in shock. Minho slipped his tongue into his mouth and Thomas moaned, as he tasted chocolate and a touch of mint on Minho's tongue. The kiss seemed to last for an eternity until Minho slowly pulled away.

"Oh man Minho!"

"Making out at school? That's really hot Min!"

"Get a room, you shuckfaces!"

Thomas ducked his head at those catcalls and Minho glared down the culprits, making them scatter before the captain of the cross-country team could run after them.

"Ignore them," Minho said as he looked back at Thomas. "They're just jealous that I'm into you."

"Wha–you, you are?" Thomas stammered as he touched his lips.

Minho grinned and nudged Thomas in the arm. "Yeah course I am shank. Shuck, I'd kiss you again, if it meant I could have more of your chocolate."

Thomas blushed and returned the smile waiting for the moment someone would pinch him and tell him this was all a dream. Chuck came up and poked Thomas in the arm.

"Bus is gonna leave soon – we need to go," Chuck said as he started tugging on Thomas's sleeve.

Thomas groaned as he began to follow Chuck to the bus. Chuck boarded the bus and Thomas started to get on when he heard Minho call after him.

"Hey! I'll see you soon, okay?" Minho yelled.

Thomas blinked and looked around to make sure it was really him that Minho was addressing. Minho rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Yeah I mean you slinthead! Maybe tomorrow, we do lunch or something?" Minho said.

"Ye-yeah! Lunch sounds good," Thomas said as he allowed a smile to cross his lips.

"Hey kid, I gotta leave like now," the driver said as she checked her watch. "You done yet?"

Thomas jerked his head around and apologized as he got on. He slid into a window seat and yanked the window down.

"I'll call you – Newt gave me your number," Minho said. "See ya around shank!"

"See ya," Thomas yelled out the window. He grinned as he leaned back in his seat and put his bag on the seat next to him as the bus pulled out of its spot.


End file.
